Eco Webquest Populations

Ecology Webquest #1 Populations a. What is a population? A population is defined as a group of individuals of the same species living and interbreeding within a given area. b. Two things that increase a population The two factors that increase the size of a population are natality, which is the number of individuals that are added to the population over a period of time due to reproduction, and immigration, which is the migration of an individual into a place. c. Two things that decrease a population The two factors that decrease the size of a population are mortality, which is the number of individual deaths in a population over a period of time, and emigration, which is the migration of an individual from a place #2 Communities d. What is a community? An ecological community is a group of actually or potentially interacting species living in the same location e. How are communities distinguished? communities are distinguished as a set of interacting populations. Relative abundance, which refers to the abundance or lack of a species within a community with respect to the abundance of all the other species living in that community. #3 Ecosystems f. What is an ecosystem? An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. What do ecosystems include? Ecosystems include biotic as well as abiotic factors that work together. g. What happens if one part of an ecosystem is damaged or destroyed? When one part of an ecosystem is damaged or destroyed, then it directly affects the remaining parts, and results in the collapsing of the ecosystem. It is because all the organisms are depending on each other forming a food chain. #4: Biodiversity h. What is biodiversity? Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you'll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world i. Why is it important? Biodiversity is important to humans for many reasons like Ecological life support. Biodiversity provides functioning ecosystems that supply oxygen, clean air and water, pollination of plants, pest control, wastewater treatment and many ecosystem services. j. What are abiotic factors? An abiotic factor is a non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment k. What are biotic factors? A biotic factor is a living organism that shapes its environment. #5: Food Chains ● Diagram your food chain: Nectar (flowers) - butterflies - small birds - foxes. l. A person is called a __omniovore___________________________________ because they eat meat (animals) & vegetables (plants). m. ___Carinvores_____________________ are animals that only eat meat. n. ___Herbiavores_____________________ are animals that only eat plants. #6 Food Webs - hawk eats a snake, which has eaten a frog, which has eaten a grasshopper, which has eaten grass o. Name a consumer in your food web __snake, frog, grasshopper_____________________________ p. Name a producer in your food web ___grass_____________________________ q. Name a decomposer(if there is one) in your food web ____grasshopper__________________________ #7 Energy in an Ecosystem r. Write three to five sentences describing what you learned: I learned Energy is transferred between organisms in food webs from producers to consumers. The vast majority of energy that exists in food webs originates from the sun and is transformed into chemical energy by the process of photosynthesis in plants. when energy is passed in an ecosystem from one trophic level to the next, only ten percent of the energy will be passed on. #8 10% Rule s. What is the 10 percent rule? Where does the unused energy go? The amount of energy at each trophic level decreases as it moves through an ecosystem. As little as 10 percent of the energy at any trophic level is transferred to the next level; the rest is lost largely through metabolic processes as heat. #9 Carbon Cycle ● Diagram the carbon cycle: t. Name 2 places on the earth we find carbon: We can find carbon in rocks and sediments. u. Plants pull carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere to make food, through a process called __photosynthesis__________________. v. Through food chains animals get __energy__________ from the plants and other animals they eat. w. When plants and animals die and _reproduce___________, carbon goes back into the ground. x. Some carbon is buried deep in the ground and forms _coal_______________________. y. When humans burn fossil fuels, _carbon dioxide gas_______________ is released back into the atmosphere. z. When humans and animals exhale, they release carbon back into the air by a process called __respiration____________________________. #10 Nitrogen Cycle ● Diagram the nitrogen cycle: aa. What are 2 ways nitrogen becomes useable to plants, humans and animals? Plant and animal wastes decompose, adding nitrogen to the soil. Bacteria in the soil convert those forms of nitrogen into forms plants can use. People and animals eat the plants; then animal and plant residues return nitrogen to the soil again, completing the cycle. bb. How do herbivores obtain the nitrogen they need? herbivorous animals obtain nitrogen through plant materials that has a high protein or amino acid content such as leguminous plants cc. How is nitrogen returned to the atmosphere? Nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere by the activity of decomposers. dd. What are two ways humans impact the nitrogen cycle: two ways humans impact the nitrogen cycle are Burning fossil fuels and the application of nitrogenbased fertilizers and dramatically increasing the amount of biologically available nitrogen in an ecosystem. #11 Water Cycle ● Diagram the water cycle: #12 Biomes Around the World ee. How are biomes determined? Terrestrial biomes are distinguished primarily by their predominant vegetation, and are mainly determined by temperature and rainfall ff. What are the 6 Biomes of the World? 6 biomes of the world are forest, grassland, freshwater, marine, desert, and tundra gg. What are the Freshwater Ecosystems? The habitats that freshwater ecosystems provide consist of lakes, rivers, ponds, wetlands, streams, and springs hh. What are the Marine Ecosystems? ] marine ecosystems are estuaries, salt marshes, mangrove forests, coral reefs, the open ocean, and the deep-sea ocean #13 Human Impact ● deforestation - Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation ● human population - Humans have increased the world's carrying capacity through migration, agriculture, medical advances, and communication. ● soil erosion - over cropping and or deforestation can lead to desertification – the spread of desert like lands due to these human activities accelerating natural erosion of soil ● extinction of Species - We pollute habitat and illegally hunt and kill animals. Because human populations are growing so fast, animals and plants are disappearing fast. ● fires - Although human activities such as lighting campfires are mainly responsible for starting the fires, hotter weather makes forests drier and more susceptible to burning. ● pollution - Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change. ● greenhouse effect - Greenhouse gases have far-ranging environmental and health effects. They cause climate change by trapping heat, and they also contribute to respiratory disease from smog and air pollution ● pandemic - People spreading germs and not wearing masks spreads and worsens pandemics ● invasive species - Invasive species of plants and animals are also unintentionally transported to new locations through recreational activities. ● loss of habitat - The loss of wetlands, plains, lakes, and other natural environments all destroy or degrade habitat, as do other human activities ● ocean acidification - humans are burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas causing ocean acidification. ● ocean thermo - The ocean absorbs most of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions, leading to rising ocean temperatures ● plastics - (BPA) will increase our risk of certain cancers, can cause hormonal issues, and even increase risk of infertility and birth defects. Ingesting plastic can also negatively impact the immune system over time. ● desertification - Human activities that contribute to desertification include the expansion and intensive use of agricultural lands, poor irrigation practices, deforestation, and overgrazing. ● climate change - Humans are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth's temperature by burning fossil fuels that add enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, increasing climate change. ● thermohaline ocean circulation - humans affect thermohaline ocean circulation by drilling or mining, dredging for aggregates for concrete and other building materials, destructive anchoring, removal of corals. ● burning of fossil fuels - When fossil fuels are burned, they release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain. ● increased agriculture - Humans have modified the physical environment by clearing land for agriculture or damming streams to store and divert water. This impacts the communities and wildlife located downstream who might depend on that water ● irrigation - The expansion and intensification of agriculture made possible by irrigation has the potential for causing: increased erosion; pollution of surface water and groundwater from agricultural biocides;